Skyrim Gets 1.5 Patch, More Kill Cams

The patchening of Skyrim continues with the release of version 1.5, which adds a bunch of new so-called “kill shots” for projectile weapons, spells, and melee weapons, along with various tuning fixes like improved visual transitions when going underwater and draw distance for snowy landscapes, and a host of bug fixes. Based on the trailer above (we’re really doing trailers for patches now?), they’re truly the most proud of the kill animations. At the risk of being snide, somehow I don’t think that’s going to serve as the secret ingredient that’ll make me interested in going back to the game.

Full patch details after the break.

NEW FEATURES

New cinematic kill cameras for projectile weapons and spells

New kill moves and animations for melee weapons

Shadows on grass available (PC)

Smithing skill increases now factor in the created item’s value

Improved visual transition when going underwater

Improved distance LOD transition for snowy landscapes

BUG FIXES

General crash fixes and memory optimizations

Fixed issue with Deflect Arrows perk not calculating properly

In “A Cornered Rat,” the death of certain NPCs no longer blocks progression

Fixed issue where Farkas would not give Companion’s quests properly

Fixed crash when loading saves that rely on data that is no longer being loaded

Followers sneak properly when player is sneaking

Fixed issue with weapon racks not working properly in Proudspire Manor

Arrows and other projectiles that were stuck in objects in the world now clean up properly

Todd was born in Ann Arbor with a Michigan helmet in one hand and a mouse in the other. (Never you mind the logistics of this.) He grew, vertically anyway, and proceeded to spend over 16 years as a development editor for Pearson Education, publishing books, videos, and digital learning products under the Que and Sams Publishing imprints. Because that wasn't enough of a challenge, Todd has also been a 20-year part-time snob about video games, writing reviews, features, and more for multiple outlets. Follow him on Twitter @ubrakto or check it out his website at ToddsFoolery.com.

I got about 60 hours through and then got sidetracked. I decided I would wait until there was some DLC out so that I could do all of it in one epic swing – last time I missed out on the DLC for Oblivion because I was done with the game by the time it came out, and some of it looked pretty cool. That horse armor was so shiny.